Four Weeks in...

Ok....we've completed four weeks.  We're officially 1/3 of the way there.  It only gets harder from here...YIKES!  My glutes/hips are NOT particularly enjoying the long runs.  Will have to figure something out with those.  Foam roller? Stretching? Strengthening?  I dunno.  Trial and error I guess. The long run for week 4 was 11k.  Still well within my comfort zone after doing 10k long runs all summer.  Though I got the 10k under an hour, I have thrown all thoughts about speed out the window.  It's all about just getting it done at this point.

Yup....one hour, 16 minutes....but that's ok.  What worries me is the fact that my hips, lower back and glutes were quite sore for the last part of the run and I was very stiff and sore after we were done (felt much better after stretching).  Not sure how I'll get through a 19k run!  Yikes!

This upcoming weekend we'll be doing the longest run we've ever done!  13k.  That's one more than Bloomsday, 3 more than a "regular" long run.  And a little scary...  But we'll just do what we can do I guess.  Good thing I'm stubborn :)

First Week....DONE!

Done my first official week of half-marathon training.  Made one mistake - thinking Friday was a cross-training day, not a rest day...so did a 8.5k walk that I didn't need to do...  But oh well...

Struggled through both the Thursday and the Saturday run, though.... Began to suspect that perhaps working out hard in the gym 5x/week in addition to the running and cross-training required by our program might be a bit much.... So, I consulted the experts....on Twitter...I mean, where else would you find experts when you live in a small town with no real obvious experts to consult?  One of them is author and Runners World contributor, Bart Yasso - so, really....he knows his stuff.

So, the consensus of my Twitter experts was a resounding YES....I am doing too much :(  Both said circuit training 1x/week is the most I should be doing (that was before I fessed up to the spin class starting this week).  Soooo....I am not willing to give up my workouts entirely....but I am going to give in a little.  Monday and Friday's are official rest days...I am going to only do some stretching and core work those days and Wednesdays.  Running will be Tuesday/Wednesday, Saturday/Sunday.  On Tuesday and Thursday (likely??) I will workout in the gym....but primarily on upper body.  Thursday I will also do spin class (which is my official cross-training day, anyway).  Hopefully taking it easy 3x/week at lunch will help my body to better deal with the training to come....and perhaps will let my groin issues improve somewhat as well.

Next weekend is supposed to be an 8k run on Saturday and a 4k easy run Sunday...However, we're signed up for a 10k in Creston on Sunday...so the 4k will be Saturday, the 10k Sunday....and then after that...I should be able to stay on schedule...hopefully!

Hurry up December!  I'm ready for this to be done already!  The half-marathon is taking over my life!

Getting Closer....But Not There Yet

Well, my quest to complete a 10k in under an hour has gone another month without being achieved....and I thought I was going to throw up today I was running so hard at the end...ugghh...

Getting ever closer, though:

Goal is still make it in under an hour at the Blue Heron 10k....if not before...  Damn you, 10k...I WILL win this one!!  ONE DAY!!!!

One Twenty Three....Almost Killed Me!

So, I was doing a fair amount of walking leading up into and at the start of my last week of vacation.  Whenever I go for a lengthy walk, a run or a bike ride, I always strap on my Garmin watch to track what I'm doing.  I then go to the dailymile.com website afterward to log what I've done and post it to Facebook (cuz I'm braggy like that)... The dailymile website keeps a running tab on the top of the # of km you've logged for the week so far...Sooo...being the dumbass I am, I thought "I wonder if I can do 100km this week?".  Once the idea has been planted...

So, the week looked like this - Monday 8k walk, Tuesday 5k run/8k walk, Wednesday 8k walk, Thursday 5k run, 8k walk...hmmm...my lower back is beginning to bother me a little...feels a bit tight... Friday 10k bike, 9k walk (yup, lower back not really very happy).  Saturday 10k run (owww...THAT hurt!)...and then it was Sunday...and I had 29km more to go!  Yikes...So, Sunday I decided to bike to Kimberley and back... STUPID...Not only is it more km than I needed...but I had that nagging back thing going on...  But I'm nothing if not stubborn...  Hopped on my bike and away I went.  Got as far as Marysville and was thinking this isn't too bad...not much farther to Kimberley.  Unfortunately, Marysville to Kimberley is ALL up hill...(which my back does NOT like).  Somehow I made it...painfully... Turned around, stopped at a picnic table for a snack and some water and coasted back down to Marysville...ahh...my back didn't mind that so much.  Then I remembered....the 3.5km hill I had to climb to get back to Cranbrook...and then the KILLER hill back up to my house...uggghh....but I did it...  Could barely walk by the time I got back...had to skip running on Monday because of my back....but I did it.  Worth it???  You betcha!  I beat my goal...123km in one week!  Woot Woot!

The picture below was taken at the official 100km mark!

What the Hawk??

Wish I had pictures for today's blog post.  Due to maintenance on Rails to Trails, we were forced to go to Wasa for our 10k run this week.  A good incentive to keep running was the swarms of mosquitoes that would go crazy on us as soon as we stopped.  Had about 2.5k walk back to the car after we finished running - and even though I put my jacket back on and zipped it up to my chin, I wasn't entirely sure we'd have any blood left by the time we found refuge.  Crazy! 

The 10k went pretty well.  My hips are giving me a little trouble (need to stretch?  from planks?  who knows!) so they hurt a little.  My time was slower than the past couple of 10k's for sure.  Colleen had a good run she was happy about, though....

So, we finish the run, took refuge in Colleen's lovely Dodge Charger for the trip back to town... We're cruising along the highway and Colleen and I both spy a hawk flying on along the side of the highway...then it flew over the highway, and then it was coming toward the car, closer and closer....right at the windshield!  Colleen's holding tight to the steering wheel, bracing for impact.  I'm ducking and squealing and holding my hands in front of me - visualizing this damn hawk coming THROUGH the windshield and landing on my lap.  Me - who is terrified of a robin!!  Sheesh!  I kind of wish I could have seen a speech bubble above the hawk's head too...I can imagine it was also thinking "oh shit!".  Thankfully it finally pulled up and flew OVER the car instead of through it.  Something about us and freaky bird incidents (first we were dive-bombed by a grouse who then came along with us for a run for a bit!). 

After that, the rest of the trip was uneventful.  Headed up to Colleen's when we hit town for a blissful soak in the hot tub before heading home to eat.  Then it was plank-a-day time.  Did one 60 second plank and one 30 second.  Decided to give my lower back a break and not push for a second 60 second.

Now must finally go shower!

New Challenge

Ahhh...gotta love Twitter.  So much information coming in - all in short little bursts of 140 characters or less.  Got up today to multiple tweets about Amy Winehouse's untimely demise (a little surreal that she now joins Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Kobain and Janis Joplin in the "died at 27" club).

Anyway, another thing that has entered my consciousness through Twitter is what some folks I am following have started doing.  They are tagging their tweets with #plankaday and giving details as to the number of planks and their duration that they complete each day.

So, somewhere in my less-than-brilliant mind a little voice said "what a great idea!"...  When I will learn to NOT listen to that voice, I don't know...but apparently now is not the time.  I have officially thrown my hat in the ring for the plank-a-day challenge (competing only against myself, of course).  My initial goal is to do at least one 60 second plank every single day between now and the end of my holidays (August 14).  Started off with a bang today.  Completed TWO 60 second planks.  Good thing no one was around during the second one.  Not sure those grunting and groaning sounds were really human-sounding.  But..I did it.  Now, however, I have a pretty tender lower back...Perhaps starting with one and working toward 2 is a better idea?

Tomorrow....10k and day two of #plankaday!

Some are great running days....and then there was today...

Today's run felt like a struggle from start to finish.  My iPod died at the 20 minute mark.  I had made ok time at the half-way point but needed to pick it up if I was going to make it in under an hour....but rather than have a faster second half, I slowed down a little and finished in 1:02:07.  Six seconds faster than last week...but still over 2 minutes slower than I'd like.

Oh well...will keep plugging away at it...  It will come eventually. 

Even though every part of me protested mightily....I still completed 10 sprints as well...

Now I think I might have a nap before heading to Fernie.  Seems like a great plan to me!

Where I'm At

Ok...after that last post I am going to avoid the use of the word "cute" for the rest of this post.

This is the end of the first week with both of my regular running/exercise buddies gone on vacation.  I've heard from Colleen.  Hoping Gerilee is having a great trip and is staying safe.  I did my first 10k alone.  It was uneventful and I was happy with my time.  Then I had my first morning run alone.  Came across a few deer but was a pretty good run anyway.  Had a new partner join me for my other two runs this week.  Was nice to have company but found myself backing off to her slower pace.  Not horribly slow but frustrating enough that I'm hoping for another 10k alone tomorrow. 

Managed to get out for a walk (6k) most days this week.  Took Wednesday off.  Thursday Lana and her friend Tammy joined me so it was a little bit slower.  Friday Heather and I walked from work downtown for beer and dinner and then back.  Does that count?  I bought a running magazine along the way - that HAS TO count for something, right??  lol...

Today, did the 22k bike ride from my house to the bridge and back.  Waited too long in the day so it was quite windy...  Wind has picked up a lot again now so I am glad to be done.

Now off to find some grub :)

One Down....

I did it!  First 10k of the season and it is done, done, DONE!  And it was pretty great too.  I thought briefly that I might be able to make it in under an hour - but it wasn't to be.  Still pretty darn happy with the 1:02:13 time I got though.  A sub-hour 10k definitely seems possible....down the road.  I gave it all I had today, though.  Ankle gave me a little trouble and at one point my left hamstring had a couple moments of seizing up...but otherwise it was a great run in the sunshine.  Oh...still having iPod trouble too.  Checked last night and it said battery was at 75% so didn't bother re-charging it.  About 15 minutes into my run, it died....  Would have been nice to have had music the rest of the way but was fine without it. 

Tons of people on Rails to Trails today.  Not sure if that is because it is a rare nice weekend, a long weekend, or the combination of the two.  Finished off my 10k with running 10 sprints and then some stretching.  A group that seemed to have biked from Kimberley came while I was stretching.  One of the guys told me when I was done that I "look pretty limber".  Not quite sure what that meant...

Almost tempted to do a bike ride today too...but think perhaps I'll sit in the sunshine with a book and a beer instead :)  I <3 Summer!

Sometimes You Need A Push

Great 9k today.  All three of us were finally back together....Colleen, Gerilee and I.  Yay!!  Whether intended or not, having Gerilee running beside me pushes me to do better so I was able to take another minute off of my 9k time from last week!  Getting 10k done in under an hour might just be possible some day after all.

Followed the great run with some sprints and stretching.  Think my quads might protest somewhat tomorrow.  Still enjoying the running thing so much more now, though.  Amazing what pain-free running can do for you :)

The Runs Keep on Comin'

Nothing new or exciting to report on the running front.  Did our regular 5k on Tuesday and Thursday.  Our longer 9k run is tomorrow.  Hope to get in under an hour again...but have been feeling tired and sluggish the past few days.  Didn't do much of anything today so hoping I'll have the energy I need in the morning.

Loving how much better I feel running now than I used to, though.  Even the rough days aren't nearly so rough.

Well, time to rest up for tomorrow (some more).

'Til next time....